Introduction
Social media plays a vehement role in our life, as it is involved in the majority of the interactions. It is one of the tools to express the freedom of speech and ideas and share the views and opinions of the other members of society. Nonetheless, sometimes the statements in social media can violate the rights and freedoms of the individuals (Guney 7). In this instance, some of the companies mention what can be published on social media in their Codes of Conduct to avoid the leakage of confidential information (Ly and Ratnaike 14). This policy reduces the appearance of inappropriate statements, which can adversely influence the company’s publicity.
A primary goal of the proposal is to examine and evaluate two cases My Boss Is an Idiot and Public Domain and determine the reason for the occurrence of the issues. Additionally, it is necessary to propose the action, which the HR manager has to take to minimize the future risks of the appearance of similar situations. In the end, the conclusions are drawn.
‘My Boss Is an Idiot’
People have a tendency to post various ideas online. It is apparent that employees use social media to express their negative emotions about certain situations at work. Nonetheless, it seems that the employees have to be careful while expressing their opinions about the job or their boss since they might lose their current position due to inadequate posts. Nonetheless, some of the companies have well-established policies of usage of social networks and absolute restriction about the content of the post (Landau par. 3).
It is evident that in this instance, the workers are more responsible for their posts since adverse comments about the company or co-workers might be a cause of dismissal. These cases occur on the regular basis and take place within an enterprise with a well-established corporate structure. For example, in Apple, one of the workers was posting offensive posts about his colleague (Landau par. 3). Similar situations often occur in many other companies, as the employees have a tendency to violate the rules and offend the personal views of the other employees.
It is apparent that managers have a tendency to pay substantial attention to the cultivation of trustful relationships within the organization. Effective team building is one of the essentialities for maintenance of the order and rapid result achievement in the group (West 31). In this case, avoiding social media conflicts contributes to trustful and successful relationships within the organization. In this case, restricted rules and dismissals are the control instruments for the maintenance of the company. It is a primary reason for the establishment of the restriction related to the content of the posts in social media, as it helps avoid conflicts and misunderstandings among co-workers.
In this case, it is apparent that the contribution of HR management is essential, as communication with the personnel is a significant attribute of this interaction. Nonetheless, there are several actions, which can be implemented by the HR managers to minimize the risks of the occurrence of similar issues in the future. One of the approaches is effective team building since interrelations between the employees contribute to the development of positive attitudes within the organization. This technique will minimize the appearance of negative posts on social media, as the employees will be satisfied with their working environment.
Another method is conducting a survey to monitor the employee’s satisfaction. Regular implementation of this approach contributes to the minimization of the risks related to the dismissal due to the negative posts on social media. Additionally, this method will determine the possible areas of improvement, as employees will freely express their opinions about the working environment. Lastly, HRM has to conduct the training and seminars where the potential consequences of the negative posts are described, and the rights of the employees are explained. In conclusion, it could be said that implementation of the following techniques will contribute to the maintenance of the order in the organization and development of the understanding and respect of the corporal culture.
Public Domain
Sometimes similar situations occur due to the inability of the employees to distinguish between personal and corporate data. It is apparent that an employee, who posted the comment ‘saying no to working for shitty govt depts’, did not refer to the specific department. Nonetheless, it is apparent that the post was related to the work and violated the company’s privacy and image. It is evident that these issues occur due to the inability of the employees to refer their actions to the particular laws and regulations of the company. However, in this case, the confusion occurs due to the fact that the employer and employee have to understand when social media post is considered as a violation of the company’s policies.
For example, NLRB introduced a unique case report, which refers to the questionable cases related to social media (Hill par. 5). It is apparent that the case studies help determine the differences whether the particular behavior is acceptable in social media or not. In this instance, no confusion is created, as the company clearly identifies the rules and regulations regarding the behavior in social media.
One of the reasons for paying vehement attention to social media posts is the fact that social media is one of the marketing communication tools, which is rapidly gaining popularity in the modern world. It is apparent that the inappropriate posts, harassment of the individuals, and violation of the clients’ rights result in the company’s decreasing positive publicity and building of the wrongful brand image (Flynn and Maltby par. 6).
It could be said that this matter is one of the primary causes of sufficient monitoring of the employees’ behavior online and dismissal in the instance of the violation of the Code of Conduct. In this case, damaging the company’s reputation will result in the loss of the market share and cultivation of adverse attitudes in the society, as the company’s employees are not able to communicate politely and respectively with the customers.
There several actions, which can minimize the appearance of these negative issues in the future. Firstly, the HR department has to explain the rights and obligations of the employees before proceeding with them with the permanent job offer. Additionally, the laws and the Code of Conduct have to be carefully studied by the new personnel to avoid destructive posts on social media and dismissal for the violation of the company’s rights in the future. Furthermore, it is evident that the employees have to distinguish between personal and corporate information, as it will help avoid the leakage of valuable information to the competitors.
Lastly, the HR managers should monitor the social media posts before the employment of an individual, as it will assist in the determination of the particular characteristics of the potential employee (Smith par. 1). It is evident that the active implementation of these techniques helps avoid misunderstandings and misinterpretations, which are related to the dismissal due to the violation of the business’ rules and usage of social media.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it could be said that despite having a well-developed and established corporate culture, employees still have a tendency to violate the company’s rules and publish inappropriate posts on Facebook. These misunderstandings occur due to the lack of knowledge about the rights, laws, and the Code of Conduct of the company. Nonetheless, the HR department has to pay vehement attention to this phenomenon and study the primary causes of its occurrence. In this case, the employees’ satisfaction survey help maintain the positive relationship within the company and avoid negative expressions in the social media.
Additionally, it is evident that the company has to assure that the employees are aware of the business’ rules and regulations before starting their operations at a new post. Moreover, the explanation of the differences between corporal and personal information and opinions have to be distinguished, as the lack of separation might lead to the leakage of important data and facts to the competitors. Lastly, the HR department has to monitor the social media of the newcomers to determine the ability to perform the threatening behavior from the beginning.
Works Cited
Flynn, Nancy, and Lewis Maltby. “Should Companies Monitor Their Employees’ Social Media?” The Wall Street Journal. 2014. Web.
Guney, Stacey. “Freedom of Speech.” Learning and Leading with Technology 41.5 (2014): 7. Print.
Hill, Kashmir. “When You Can and Can’t Fire Employees for Social Media Misbehaviour.” Forbes. 2011. Web.
Landau, Phillip. “How Your Facebook Status Could Put You out of Work.” The Guardian. 2011. Web.
Ly, Kin, and Danny Ratnaike. “Professionals Online: Sharing Too Much?” Community Practitioner 84.7 (2011): 14-16. Print.
Smith, Chris. “Don’t Ruin Your Career in 140 Characters: Social Media Job Hunting Tips.” The Guardian. 2015. Web.
West, Michael. Effective Team Work: Practical Lessons from Organizational Research. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2012. Print.